A TEENAGER who punched her victim repeatedly before kicking her in the head while a friend filmed the attack on his phone has been told she could face a jail term.
Crystal O’Hara, 18, recognised the girl in an alleyway near East Hill, Colchester, before grabbing her hair and smacking her in the face several times.
A teenage boy – the victim’s ex-boyfriend – filmed the incident and later sent the video of the assault to the victim, Colchester Magistrates’ Court heard.
Rece Penfold, prosecuting, said the victim lost a clump of hair in the attack and was left with severe bruises to her face.
She said: “The victim heard someone shout her name.
“The defendant grabs the victim’s hair, pulls her to the ground and drags her to the floor.
“The defendant tells one of the other youths to grab the victim’s phone.
“The defendant was still holding the victim by her hair and punched the victim to her head around five times.
“When the victim tried to roll away, the defendant then kicks her in the head.”
In a victim impact statement, the girl said she is worried when she goes out in public in case she encounters O’Hara.
She added the defendant has since tried to follow her on social media, making her feel as if she is re-living the ordeal.
The statement read: “It stops me going out with friends – now they have to come to my house first.
“Crystal still keeps trying to follow me on TikTok.
“Every time she does it, it brings it all back.
“I feel this feeling will never leave me.”
O’Hara, of Briardale Avenue, Harwich, admitted one charge of actual bodily harm.
Raphael Piggott, mitigating, said O’Hara was 17 at the time of the incident in 2024.
He said: “There is no good reason why this was not dealt with in the youth court – it should have been charged and brought to the youth court within a two-year period.
“I also question why the other person was not charged – he was the one who put the video on her phone and circulated it to other people, and sent it to the victim of the offence.”
Bench chair Cong Gu adjourned the case for the Probation Service to prepare a pre-sentence report.
O’Hara will return to Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, October 29.
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